Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, who also happens to be President and Defence Minister, has presented the 2013 budget to parliament today.
Three years after the end of the armed conflict, Rajapakse has allocated a record US$ 2.2 billion to the defence ministry.
This increase is partly financed by a rise in taxation on luxury goods and other imports, like milk powder.
Rajapakse also announced a ban in the sale of land to foreigners, whose purchases are thought to have raised local prices, reported the AFP.